Selling the Child Mind to Advertising

Casey Weinfurtner | cw785810@ohio.edu

About less than a month ago I spent an entire afternoon watching old "Hannah Montana" reruns on Netflix. This wasn’t by choice, I promise. The six-year-old girl I was babysitting insisted upon having a "Hannah Montana" marathon, and I was in no position to win that battle. She knew every line to every song, and I sat back smirking as she danced to Hannah Montana’s stage performances. Needless to say, Hannah Montana was this six-year-old’s idol.

A few hours later, however many episodes deep, the little girl’s older brother entered the room and instantly blurts out, “Did you know Hannah Montana has short blonde hair now and she likes to wear no clothes?” I could feel the confusion spread upon the little girl’s face, and I had to swoop right into rescue mode to change the subject. The last thing I wanted to do was try to explain to a six-year-old that Miley Cyrus is currently maturing her image into a rebellious woman that “twerks” and licks sledgehammers. I can only imagine trying to explain to her parents that slip up.

Leaving the house that day, it got me thinking about the ways children idolize the stars they view on television and wondering to what extent that could lead. Watching the little girl I babysit mimic every dance move and word of Hannah Montana, it built a slight panic that one day she might see “adult Miley” and mimic the same behaviors. I’m sure it won’t be long before the many young girls idolizing her learn about her recent image evolution and want to be a part of the transition.

It’s not just Miley Cyrus that’s gone from a “good girl” on the Disney Channel to a glorified example of sex. Countless other child stars such as Vanessa Hudgens or Selena Gomez have made the shift to their adult image and publicly displayed it throughout the media. 

Vanessa Hudgens was exposed for having nude pictures back in 2007, and Selena Gomez is more recently showing off plenty of skin in her new music video “Come and Get It.” It is almost shocking at times that these are the type of stars we grew up with as kids, and that these stars are subconsciously influencing young minds with every media outlet they are advertised. Whether or not their new representation of themselves is widely welcomed initially, let’s face it: The better, sexier image sells.

                          Childhood stars flaunt their new mature image for ads

What are we really selling to kids? 

Children are surrounded daily by advertisements and news media that project idolized images or products into their youthful minds. As media progresses along with technology, it is almost impossible to escape the negative messages disguised by advertising to children. 

In fact, according to the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, children are exposed to 40,000 ads alone, and this doesn’t include all the other various forms of media advertising to which they're exposed. Children are taught daily to become what meets their eye, crave the food that’s glorified before them and own the material objects flaunted by ads.

In return, we have children morphing into the images they believe to be realistic expectation of society. According to Perri Klass of The New York Times, “Studies show that advertising does help push children and adolescents toward unhealthy behaviors, but also that it is increasingly difficult to shield them as marketers exploit the Internet and social media.” 

Children are a main target for ad manipulation and quite simply, they respond exactly the way advertisers need them to. They see the way their idol is dressed to promote a certain product and suddenly that product is more desirable. At a young age, children are unable to decode the messages being sent to them and distinguish between which images are an exaggeration or attainable. I know it certainly wouldn’t take much for the little girl I babysit to see Miley Cryus in her new wardrobe and believe she must learn to age at the same extreme. 

But the more children and teens see this the more of a normality it becomes and the more advertising succeeds. Children and teens see what advertisers want, and they become who they think they’re supposed to be.

Manipulation is far too strong 

Now that society is more aware of the media manipulation children suffice to on a daily basis, how do we make it stop? 

Advertising agencies are continuing on with success while children play into victimizing ads. What’s so ethical about that? Regardless of how much true representation is emphasized for media outlets, ads certainly target those who play into their game. The reality of the ads in our society is that the most shocking and outrageous promotions are what easily grasp the most attention, leading sexual or desirable content to drive the media. It is up to the individuals in the society receiving these messages to filter what information from the ad is most valuable.

As for the agencies, though manipulation has proven to be most affective, the most valuable part of the ad is what conveys truthful content in a powerful context. Unfortunately the media leaves us with fewer realistic options in the daily advertisements we succumb to. 

If advertising agencies continue to unethically manipulate the power of the media, when will the truth sell?